First ‘Martian worms’ born in lab could be the answer to growing crops on the red planet

Dr. Wieger Wamelink peered into a glass jar on his desk, and was surprised to see five creatures wiggling around — the jar was initially home to just four worms.

Over the coming days, the Netherlander discovered there were actually three baby worms living in the jar, a moment he describes as a “really big surprise” that he just “couldn’t believe.”

Most people probably wouldn’t get too excited about worms reproducing, but these ones were special. They were Martian worms, living in soil created by NASA to simulate the dirt found on Mars.

Unlike the dirt here on Earth, soil on Mars is very sharp because it doesn’t experience the same degree of weathering. It also doesn’t have many nutrients and contains toxic compounds.

Wamelink and his team at Wageningen University and Research Centre in the Netherlands wanted to see if worms could survive in this harsh environment, because it would help them decide if worms could be used to aid crop production on Mars.

Worms are a crucial part of the agricultural cycle. They break down plant parts into nutrients that are returned to the soil and used for future crops. They also dig tunnels, making it easier for water to enter the soil. But this process would be difficult in Martian dirt — Wamelink compared the task to humans eating glass.

But the worms not only survived – they thrived, which became clear when they produced offspring.

Wamelink said this was especially exciting because worms prevent waste and nutrients from escaping the ecosystem. “Nothing can be lost (on Mars) if we want to build a sustainable ecosystem,” he said.

The ecologist said that while this is a great first step, there’s still a lot to consider moving forward. First, the soil simulant (which isn’t cheap by the way — it costs $2,500 per 100 kilograms to purchase) isn’t exactly like Martian soil. It’s missing an important component — perchlorate. This chemical compound, which was discovered on Mars only about two years ago, could be lethal to worms and plants alike, he said.

“Maybe in one and a half years we will find something new again that we have to deal with, and that’s the difference in doing research on Earth,” he said. “We do the best we can, but ultimately we have to go to Mars.”

This hasn’t stopped the researcher from thinking ahead. He’s started experiments growing plants in soils that contain a high concentration of chloride, which makes up perchlorate. He’s also been toying with other solutions, such as using bacteria to break down perchlorate.

Wamelink recognizes worms alone won’t do the trick in creating sustainable crops on Mars. The system will also require bacteria, fungi and a type of pollinator (he says maybe bees) in order to achieve any level of success. Lately there’s been a lot of focus on hydroponic crop-growing systems (ones that don’t use soil, delivering nutrients through water instead).

Wamelink said he prefers simple solutions. “In order to have a complete system, it makes more sense to use soil, because if you use hydroponics, what will you do with all of the waste?” he said. “Doing things naturally is much easier and it saves a lot of energy.”

Dr. Thomas Graham, research and development manager for the University of Guelph’s Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility, said that while hydroponic systems have been a focus because they’re easier to control, there’s certainly value in considering simpler systems for crop production on Mars.

“This (worm research) is fairly preliminary but sometimes you need to ask these fairly simple questions that people often don’t think to ask,” he said.

Moving forward with Martian crop-production research, Graham said a lot of options are still on the table, and worms are certainly something new to consider. But he also suggested that more research should be focused on genetically altering the crops themselves, so they’re more ideal for a life in space.

“We’ve spent a lot of time trying to modify the environment that plants in Mars will live in, and now it’s time to modify the plants to fit them into the physical system,” he said. “I think tweaking the plants themselves to be better for a space environment is the last speed bump we need to push over.”

As for the worms? While Wamelink and his team are working on publishing their study, the baby worms are squirming free in a university garden.

“It was the end of the experiment and we knew they survived, so we decided to let them live in the nice soil,” he said.

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First ‘Martian worms’ born in lab could be the answer to growing crops on the red planet

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